Opinion: Maine needs a better plan for its electrical grid

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 16, 2025

Mainers pay some of the highest electricity bills in the country. Now, Central Maine Power wants to raise those bills by another $35 per month by 2031 to fund infrastructure and workforce upgrades. While investments in reliability and resilience are essential, the proposed increase, on top of recent years’ hikes, is a symptom of a deeper problem: Maine lacks a strategic plan for modernizing its electricity grids in a way that ensures affordability, reliability and climate alignment. Without such a plan, we’ll continue to lurch from rate case to rate case, locking in costs for ratepayers while missing opportunities to invest wisely. We support establishing a long-range grid planning group in law, with the authority and independence to chart a more innovative course and put affordability, equity and climate at the center. Done right, this group will provide lawmakers, regulators and utilities with the evidence-based guidance to make smarter choices. It will replace reactive spending with proactive strategy. It will build public trust that facts, not politics, are guiding our energy future. ~ Kay Aikin, member, U.S. Department of Energy Grid Wise Architecture Council, and Rep. Gerry Runte, York